WITHIN- AND BETWEEN-PERSON DIFFERENCES IN ACTIVITY FACTOR STRUCTURE: RESULTS FROM AN EMA STUDY

Abstract Analyses of activity participation scales are typically based on single time points and resulting factors focus on differences between participants. However, as real-world activity engagement varies at more micro-timescales, these analyses provide little insight into how activities cluster together within a person across moments or days. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies capture within-person fluctuations in activity engagement and allow us to compare within-person variability to that observed across persons. Using multilevel factor analysis we examined the factor structure of activity participation within-persons (i.e., across days) and between participants. Using tablet-based assessments, 81 adults aged 41 to 94 years (M=61.26, SD=12.12) reported the activities they completed in the past 3-4 hours 5 times per day (4 at semi-randomly scheduled intervals and 1 at bedtime) for 14 days. Multilevel factor analysis simultaneously computed both intra-individual factors (within-person structure of activity in daily life) and inter-individual factors (between-person structure of activity engagement). A solution of 4 within-person and 4 between-person factors provided the best model fit, with three common factors across levels: 1) cognitive (e.g., read, write, computer tasks); 2) social (e.g., events, mentoring, providing care); and 3) passive (e.g., TV, games) factors. There were notable differences in the fourth factor however. Although there are similarities, the factor structure of activity participation between individuals is different than factors describing activity participation within persons from day to day. Researchers should be aware that common between-person activity factors will not unilaterally fit EMA within-person data and should conduct additional preparatory factor analyses.

Internet use has dramatically increased worldwide, with over two-thirds of the world's population using it, including the elderly population.Technological resources, such as internet use, have been shown to influence psychological variables, such as stress.According to Hobfoll's theory, stress perception depends on individual's resources and their changes.While resources and stress are negatively associated, we ignore the role of technological resources on the relationship between personal resources and stress.This study aims at investigating the moderating role of technological resources (internet use) on the relationship between personal resources and stress in young and older adults.A total of 275 young (18-30 years) and 224 older adults (65 years or older) indicated their levels of stress, personal resources changes (i.e., cognitive, social, and self-efficacy resources loss and gain), and internet use.Results showed that the relationship between resource loss, resource gain, and stress in older adults was moderated by their level of internet use.Specifically, older adults who used internet more frequently were less stressed when they experienced both high levels of loss and gain, compared to their counterparts who used less internet in the same conditions.Furthermore, older adults with low resource gain and high resource loss expressed less stress when they used more internet compared to those who had low internet use.These findings highlight the important role of internet use in mitigating stress among older adults experiencing resource loss and gain, emphasizing the potential of digital interventions to promote mental health and well-being in this population.

WHAT FACTORS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH CRITICAL MEDIA LITERACY IN LATER LIFE?
Hayoung Park 1 , Bomi Choi 1 , Si Young Song 2 , and Miseon Kang 1 , 1. Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2. Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Who consumes new information from the media more critically?This study sought to empirically explore relevant factors associated with critical media literacy in later life.For the analyses, the 2021 Korean Media Panel Survey was utilized and the sample included 2,352 older Korean adults aged 65 and above (M=75.48,SD=7.34, range=65-106).Critical media literacy was measured by the mean of ten questions asking how critically evaluate the facticity, validity, intentions, and usefulness of new information from the media.Possible relevant factors include age, gender, education level, employment status, marital status, income level, and the ability to use digital technology (PC and smartphone).The results from the linear regression analyses showed that age, income level, and the ability to use digital technology were significantly associated with critical media literacy in later life.Older adults who are younger and have higher levels of income and the ability to use digital technology tend to evaluate new information from the media more critically.The findings from this study imply the importance of specialized media literacy education as social policy for older adults, especially those who are older and have lower levels of income and the ability to use digital technology.This study is significant as it empirically examined various factors related to critical media literacy in later life to inform intervention efforts to reduce misperceptions induced by misinformation that is rampant in this "information era".Future studies are needed to investigate significant factors associated with critical media literacy in later life via various contexts.

WHAT LINKS DIGITAL SKILLS AND LIFE SATISFACTION? ROLES OF DIGITAL BENEFITS AND LIVING ARRANGEMENTS
Miseon Kang 1 , Seolah Lee 1 , Jungup Lee 2 , and Hyo Jung Lee 1 , 1. Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2. National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore The benefits of equipping enhanced digital skills in late life have been reported on many occasions.Yet, there have been few attempts to understand the association between digital skills and better psychological outcomes for older adults by integrating factors with multiple domains such as social and digital-related factors.This study investigated the causal structure of the association between 'digital skills' and 'life satisfaction' by specifying a mediator 'self-reported benefits of digital use' and a moderated mediator 'living arrangements'.Using data from '2020 Digital Information Gap Survey' by National Information Society Agency of Korea, the final sample included 1,680 older Koreans aged 55 and over.Analysis was performed by PROCESS macro model 4 and 8 in SPSS.We found a significant positive effect of digital skills on life satisfaction via self-reported benefits of digital use and moderated mediation effect of living arrangements.Specifically, digital skills positively affected self-reported benefits of digital use, and the effect was stronger for older adults living alone.However, we found no moderating effect on the direct path between digital skills and life satisfaction in late life.The conditional direct effect of digital skills on life satisfaction was only significant for older adults living with others.Findings indicate that digital skills can compensate for older adults living alone, who may have fewer sources within a family context.Heterogeneity in family structure needs to be considered when exploring the impact of digital technology use on older adults' lives.Analyses of activity participation scales are typically based on single time points and resulting factors focus on differences between participants.However, as real-world activity engagement varies at more micro-timescales, these analyses provide little insight into how activities cluster together within a person across moments or days.Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies capture withinperson fluctuations in activity engagement and allow us to compare within-person variability to that observed across persons.Using multilevel factor analysis we examined the factor structure of activity participation within-persons (i.e., across days) and between participants.Using tabletbased assessments, 81 adults aged 41 to 94 years (M=61.26,SD=12.12) reported the activities they completed in the past 3-4 hours 5 times per day (4 at semi-randomly scheduled intervals and 1 at bedtime) for 14 days.Multilevel factor analysis simultaneously computed both intra-individual factors (within-person structure of activity in daily life) and inter-individual factors (between-person structure of activity engagement).A solution of 4 within-person and 4 between-person factors provided the best model fit, with three common factors across levels: 1) cognitive (e.g., read, write, computer tasks); 2) social (e.g., events, mentoring, providing care); and 3) passive (e.g., TV, games) factors.There were notable differences in the fourth factor however.Although there are similarities, the factor structure of activity participation between individuals is different than factors describing activity participation within persons from day to day.Researchers should be aware that common between-person activity factors will not unilaterally fit EMA within-person data and should conduct additional preparatory factor analyses.

THE MENTAL HEALTH TAX OF FAMILY CAREGIVING
Abstract citation ID: igad104.2216

AN INTERSECTIONAL APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING COMBINING WORK AND CAREGIVING ON MENTAL HEALTH Samantha Brady, Taylor Patskanick, and Joseph Coughlin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
While an increasing number of Americans are providing unpaid care to an adult family member, the majority are balancing family care needs with employment responsibilities.Role conflict theory suggests the experience of combining family caregiving and paid work can detrimentally impact mental health, while role enhancement theory suggests that occupying both social roles can alleviate the burden of caregiving.Prior work finds support for both theories, however, there is currently a lack of causal evidence examining how mental health is affected by combining caregiving and employment roles.Additionally, while gendered differences and differences across racial identities in the family caregiving experience are well-documented, even fewer studies have taken an intersectional approach in understanding shifts in mental health when caregiving while employed.The current study uses a causal methodology to examine how the mental health of working adults is impacted when they transition into a family caregiving role and how these impacts vary at the intersections of racial and gender identity.Data are from the Health and Retirement Study (2004Study ( -2018)), a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults aged 50+.Results from fixed effects models support role conflict theory, suggesting when working adults begin family caregiving they experience an increase in depressive symptoms.Additional analysis using an intersectional lens finds this result applied only to White working women who transitioned into a parental caregiving role.Combining care with paid work did not appear to impact depressive symptoms for employed Black women, Black men, and White men when they began caregiving.Emerging evidence suggests that caregivers may experience high rates of suicidal ideation.However, relatively little is known about daily contextual factors, including day-to-day depression and anxiety-related symptoms, that increase the severity of suicidal ideation over time.The purpose of this study was to apply time-varying effect modeling (TVEM) to examine daily depression and anxiety symptoms leading up to an individual's highest suicidal ideation score within a span of 14 days in a sample of community-dwelling ADRD caregivers.The intercept-only model revealed an increase in the mean scores of daily suicidal ideation four days leading up to an individual's highest score.Additionally, there was a significant decrease four days after the highest suicidal ideation point.The relationship between depression and daily suicidal ideation was significant 1-day leading up to the highest suicidal ideation score.Similar relationships were observed with daily anxiety as a time-varying predictor in a separate model.The results from this study suggest that suicidal ideation can vary between days, with depression and anxiety influencing the intensity of the slope leading to and following an individual's highest suicidal ideation score.Examining suicidal ideation trajectories over time and factors associated with varying severity can help inform targeted interventions to support dementia caregivers and mitigate the risk of severe psychological distress associated with dementia caregiving.

EFFECT OF A COVID-19-RELATED LOCKDOWN ON MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER FAMILY CAREGIVERS IN SINGAPORE
Rahul Malhotra 1 , Vicky Qin 2 , and Abhijit Visaria 1 , 1. Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore, 2. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore Lockdowns, while limiting COVID-19 transmission, can affect care provision by family caregivers and their caregiving experience.We assessed, among 1094 family caregivers aged 50-79 years in Singapore, the (1) perceived effect of nationwide lockdown on their care provision, (2) correlates of different perceptions, and (3) association of the perceptions with negative and positive caregiving experiences.Caregivers reported whether their care provision became harder, easier, or remained the same during versus before the lockdown.Multinomial logistic regression assessed the association of caregiver, care-recipient, and caregiving-context characteristics with their perceptions.